File
The five St Johns Stella Londt murder accused will languish in jail until early in the new year as the case drags on in the Gqeberha High Court.
In the latest development, the legal representative for accused number two, Mkuseli Damaneti, withdrew from the matter.
Damaneti's lawyer, Siphokazi Cubungu, cited ethical reasons for her withdrawal.
The five accused, who allegedly robbed and killed two elderly women at the retirement home in October 2019, will now have to sit until the 6th of February 2023 for the continuation of the trial.
Damaneti, together with accused number one and former caregiver at Stella Londt, Nomgebesi Slangveld, and three others faces eight charges including kidnapping and murder.
The five, namely 35-year-old Slangveld, 33-year-old Damaneti, 31-year-old Akhona Mnxeba, 33-year-old Luxolo Kruisjan and 36-year-old Nyasha Manyange, are accused of acting in concert in the planning and killing of 87-year-old Rosemary Langton and her-91 year-old friend Agnes Burns.
Among the items stolen were Kruger Rands, jewellery and cell phones.
State pathologist Dr Annemarie Mattheus previously testified that Burns' cause of death was gagging with manual strangulation and that she had been found face down on her bed with her hands and feet bound.
"There is no way she'd have survived just by the position of the gag itself," Mattheus said at the time.
She said Langton's cause of death was determined to be gagging, with the grey sock in her mouth secured tightly by a belt.
According to the State, it was Slangveld who obtained keys from the home and had her then-boyfriend Damaneti make duplicates so that they could gain entry into the retirement village.
Accused number five's attorney, Masunet Strydom, confirmed that her client, Manyane, is being held separately from his co-accused for security reasons.
